Hi everybody, yesterday I took this picture, It was the first time I was shooting fireworks, thought I had already took night-shots it's different, and I had some difficulties with the exposition dued to the full moon light.
Maybe someone more expert can tell me what is the best way to take shots like these. thank you!
Critique wanted
I'm impressed. You did great for your first time. Of course you knew what you were doing and it shows.
The fireworks are well exposed and well captured.
As for the moon, that's easy, and there are actually two ways to archive the kind of image you had in mind (with a detailed, properly exposed moon, I guess):
1) A ND-grad filter on the camera.
2) A composite of multiple exposures.
The composition, your choice of view point and the backdrop... I'm torn about that. There's two things tearing me, the reflection of the moon and the town on the left.
It *is* an interesting choice of perspective with the moon casting a full on reflection in the water smack through the middle of the firework, basically going "come on, fireworks, you ain't got nothing on MY power to shine". Having written that, I know, what's tearing me about the moon and the fireworks: they are competing for the scene. I wonder if a composition would be possible by substracting an image of the same scene without fireworks, to get control of the reflection of the moon through the fireworks...
As far as the town on the left, while it does give context and location to the otherwise empty scene, it does add a lot of small detailed lights, which also compete with the fireworks.
thank you very much, I understand what you mean, I'm not a huge fan of composed images, I could use a ND filter. Anyway the full moon was a coincidence, maybe next time the sky will be darker, hope so!
It was a nice coincidence though.
Please don't misunderstand me, I do like the moon in the shot. The whole concept of it actually. Without the moon the shot wouldn't be complete.
You are really on to something with your shot. It is a quite unique concept and will be truly spectacular, if you can pull it off. If it is a regular show consider going next time and chasing your shot again.
The exposure on the fireworks is spot on, and I actually like the moon, as it adds a little extra interest.
The only thing I'm not huge on is how the fireworks are in front of the town, so the fireworks are clashing with the lights, which is making it seem a little cluttered. Personally, I've found that a simple backdrop helps. Furthermore, a foreground is also a good way to add scale.
As for composites, it's all about how they are executed. I've seen some horrible composites that are just sensory overload. When making composites, I've found it's best to recreate the feeling of being there, since the camera can't always do that in a single shot. Of the photos I uploaded, the first one is a composite and the second one is a single shot.
Keep up the good work. Do you have any other shots from this show?
yes, I have other shots on my portfolio, thank you very much for the advice! beautiful shots by the way, i totally agree on the composite pictures, next time I should stay lower so I can take both the city and the fireworks in one shot
Very nice, but I would crop or photoshop the moon out, as I find it distracting.